


Coffee With Labels

by pandaanna01



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, High School AU, M/M, coffee shop AU, i wrote this a year and a half ago, lowkey pastel dan, mention of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 17:23:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8809480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandaanna01/pseuds/pandaanna01
Summary: where Phil is the cute barista that serves Dan coffee at the coffee shop that Dan always goes to





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> beta-ed by [@phunwithphan](https://tmblr.co/maq0n7qQ7E64sEaOx4mOf7A)

The last bell had rang only a few seconds ago, yet all the desks but one had been abandoned as the last few students were trailing out the door. As the last (or second to last) student stepped out the door, Dan finally started packing up his materials, as slowly as he dared, and stood up. Shuffling towards the door, he heard his teacher sigh. 

“Daniel, I realise that you dislike most of the school’s population, and some of them dislike you too, but you understand that you can not stay in my classroom forever, right? You will have to leave this classroom eventually.” 

“I wish that I could, though,” muttered Dan under his breath, knowing the teacher couldn’t hear him. “Yes Miss Jackson, I know. But I can always hope” he said, facing the teacher to speak to her. He looked at the door and begrudgingly stepped towards it again. After having taken several steps, Miss Jackson seemingly appeared by his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.

“I know that you absolutely despise stepping outside of this classroom, as it makes you feel unsafe, but you know that you probably won’t see a single one of them once you guys graduate,” she said, a smile playing at her usually frowning lips. 

Dan nodded his head at her and walked into the hall, noticing that they were empty, and breathed a sigh of relief. Deciding that he wasn’t going to stop by his locker, as he already had all the materials that he needed in his backpack, he continued walking. 

As he reached his house though, he went rigid. His parents were going at each other again, arguing about useless things and then falling into each other’s arms, sobbing and asking for forgiveness. That wasn’t what made Dan turn the other way though. It was his older brother’s car in the driveway, which meant that his brother (and his brother’s girlfriend) were home. Dan didn’t mind his brother’s girlfriend, she was super nice to him and really nerdy, but he and his brother didn’t have the best relationship. Cole, his brother, was a total asshole and definitely didn’t deserve Romy, his girlfriend.  

Walking away from his house, he made the executive decision to go to what felt like his second home, or his home away from home, if you will. Zoe’s Coffee and Café, which smelled of vanilla and something else, and was comfortably lit, making the whole place feel very home-like.  

Just as Dan had settled into a booth by a large window overlooking a small, peaceful pond, and a few sheets of homework were scattered onto the table surface, someone slid into the seat opposite of him. Dan looked up, startled, and opened his mouth to tell the person to go and sit at another table, before he realised who it was. 

“Zoe?” 

“That’s my name.” She grinned at him, though concern shone in her eyes. “Are you alright? What happened at school today? You didn’t even get your usual coffee.”  

Dan recalled the events from school earlier. The arrogant populars had chosen to call him out about his sexual preference, yet again making fun of his brightly coloured clothing, being the homophobic/racist/sexist twats they were. Jesus christ (and Dan wasn’t even religious), it was the twenty-first century.  

“’M alright. Nothing much happened today, which is nice. Steve and Tom decided to call me a faggot again during lunch again, much to my amusement, as a faggot is a bundle of sticks, and Elizabeth, or Eliza as she prefers, decided that she disliked me wearing colours that she wore often.” He finished with a sigh. “Coffee sounds nice,” he added, with a hopeful smile, sinking back into the seat.  

“Caramel macchiato, as always, right?”-Dan nodded-“And don’t worry, it’s on the house, you’re having a bad day. I’ll give Phil your order.” 

Dan was slightly confused, as the usual barista was named Joe, Zoe’s younger brother by a year. Curious, he looked up and directed his line of sight to the counter. Joe was replaced by a younger boy, who seemed to be only a few years older than himself. He had a fringe similar to his own, but ‘Phil’s’ was black (although he thought he could just barely make out some lighter roots of some sort). Dan was a brunette, and not extremely tan, but he wasn’t super pale, however, Phil was definitely many shades lighter than himself. 

Dan blushed slightly when ‘Phil’ turned around with his drink, and noticed that he had gorgeous blue eyes. They reminded him of the ocean, and Dan felt like he was drowning in the colour. ‘Phil’ was amazingly and painfully cute, and Dan could feel himself swooning over the boy’s gorgeous appearance. (Dan was bisexual, though he had a preference for boys). 

Phil smiled at him, making his insides melt. As ‘Phil’ made his way towards his booth, Dan made himself seem busy by burying his head in his homework, rereading what he wrote about labels earlier in class. 

“And who should this amazingly made caramel macchiato be made for?” 

Dan looked up surprised and blushed, not expecting the voice to be so…intoxicating. Catching sight of his name tag, he determined that it definitely read Phil. “The name’s Dan, Phil.” 

Phil wrote a few things down on the side of the cup, more than just Dan’s name for sure, and gave it to him. 

“I’d love to stay and talk Dan, but I have a long line of fans waiting to get my special autograph in the form of a coffee of their choice.” Phil casted a glance at the nonexistent line. “Or not. I guess it’s not rush hour right now. You might not want your coffee to get cold though, so I suggest you to drink it.” 

Dan snapped out of his daydream of the black haired blue eyed beauty, and stuttered out an “Oh yeah, right. Coffee. Thanks Phil.” Looking at the cup, Dan noticed that Phil had gone back behind the counter and was talking to Zoe, blushing like mad. Curiosity was gnawing at his insides, so he took a peek at the side of his cup, noticing that a number was written on the side with the words,  _you better not be a stalker, Dan_. 

Dan immediately pulled out his phone, added Phil into his contacts with the coffee emoji next to it, and texted Phil:  _I swear I’m not a stalker, I’m only a Dan._

Phil, after suggesting to Dan to actually drink his coffee, quickly escaped back to the counter. 

“So, Dan…” Phil jumped at the sudden suggestive voice. 

“Jeez, Zoe. Please try not to give me a heart attack next time.” Phil placed a hand over his heart dramatically whilst he blushed harshly. 

“If you do date Dan, I know that you fancy him, you have for a while.”-Phil started shaking his head-“Phil, you take your break when you see him walk by and into the café, it’s pretty obvious.” 

“It really is,” Louise butted in from the back, “even Joe and I have noticed.” 

“Really, mate,” Joe added. “As I was saying, if you do date Dan, be careful, he gets a bit of bullying at school and from his brother, and I know that you have been bullied too. Oh, and he loves flower crowns. That reminds me, wait a second there Phil.” Zoe went into the backroom. 

Phil’s phone vibrated against his leg, signalling a text.

_Dan: I swear I’m not a stalker, I’m only a Dan._

Phil looked up at Dan and smiled, resulting in a pink colour spreading like wildfire over the brown haired boy’s cheeks. 

Zoe came back out holding a white and light blue coloured flower crown. “Here, give this to Dan, I know he’ll love it. I don’t care whether or not you say if it’s from me.” 

Dan looked at his phone again, seeing that Phil had texted him back. 

_Phil: I’ll take your word for it then. Do you want to go to the park tonight and watch the stars? xx_

Feeling the presence of another person beside him, Dan turned to face them. 

“So, is that a yes then?” 

“Of course, Phil, why wouldn’t it be?” Dan remarked, blushing madly. Phil looked like a tomato and Dan could guess he looked like one too. 

“Here, a gift from Zoe. I feel bad for not having a rose to accompany my date request, so this, even though it’s from Zoe, will suffice.” Phil said, his face still resembling a tomato. 

“Phil, you didn’t have to.” 

“Well then, see you tonight, under the stars, at the little park just down the road. Please arrive around six, so we could maybe catch the sunset too.” Phil winked as he walked away. Dan blushed profusely, and arranged the flower crown on his head, smiling, thinking about Phil. 

_Labels wouldn’t even be able to apply to what Dan and Phil would become in the future, but for right now, the term ‘lovers,’ would suffice._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where they go on a date and be cheesy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, beta-ed by [@phunwithphan](https://tmblr.co/maq0n7qQ7E64sEaOx4mOf7A)

_Love: noun. a deep and tender feeling of affection for or attachment or devotion to a person or persons_

After Dan left the café, he went home, his emotions all over the place. He felt happy, as school went well and Zoe was at the café, nervous, as his date with Phil was right around the corner (literally), and slightly afraid, as he didn’t know whether or not Cole was still in the house, or had gone off with his friends to do some pointless stuff. As he reached the house though, he felt partially relieved, as his brother didn’t appear to be home, but instead, Romy’s car was in the driveway. Also, his parents weren’t fighting anymore, which was nice. He automatically assumed that they were cuddled up in front of the television, watching some sappy romance movie. 

As soon as the door was opened, he noticed he was right, as Casablanca was playing on the TV in the centre of the room. Dan had gotten just a few steps into his house and notified the people occupying it that he was present, when Romy rushed towards him, pulled him back out of the house, and shoved him into her car. Confused about why her car was here and not Cole’s, and where Cole was, he turned towards her, looking for answers. 

“You do not want to be inside that house right now. Cole is in the house, his car is located somewhere unknown to me. He’s drunk right now, has a girl named Sophia hanging off of his arm,”-she rolled her eyes at the mention of Sophia, clearly disliking her-“and I’m ninety-nine percent sure that he’s having sex with her and cheating on me. One of the main reasons why Casablanca is playing so loudly is to drown out their sounds; unsuccessfully might I add.” Romy sighed. “So, how was your day? Any people stealing your heart?” 

Dan blushed immediately when Romy asked. “My day was fine. I finished my homework at the café so I’m fine on that. As for someone stealing my heart though…” Dan trailed off, hiding behind his fringe, “I met someone named Phil at Zoe’s today.” 

“Oooo, tell me more. What’s he like?” 

Romy was practically Dan’s sister, so he decided to spill. “He’s really cute. He’s got black hair, I think it’s dyed, styled in a fringe like mine, dazzling blue eyes, and his skin is much paler than mine. I’ve also got a date with him at six at the park just around the corner to go stargazing.” 

Romy looked a bit confused and surprised, but smiled at him nonetheless. “Wait, Phil, as in Phil Lester?!” She exclaimed suddenly, brightening immensely. 

Dan nodded slowly, subconsciously adjusting the flower crown on his head. “Yes, I think so.” 

“REALLY?! I’ll take you to my house so you can you can put your stuff down, as I don’t think that you want to go back into that house now that you know what’s going on in there. It’s also closer to the park too, so you don’t have to walk so far.” She smiled, the expression reaching from one side of her face to the other. “Phan is going to become real…” she muttered under her breath, Dan scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. It had sounded like “the fan laptop is an eel,” to him. 

“Sure…? Okay. Wait. Why are you so surprised that it’s Phil who I like?” 

“Nothing, it’s just that it had always struck me that you two were scarily alike, what with the matching music tastes, right down to the hairstyles. I kind of always thought you two would be adorable together, and when Phil came out as bi, last year, it felt like there would be a chance, if only I could set you two dorks up,” Romy replied, nearly breathless, to a bewildered Dan. “Oh, and we’ve been good friends since the beginning of school, when we bonded over a mutual love of video games and sugar. He asked if he could have one of my homemade marshmallows, and when I gave it to him, he proclaimed himself my friend.” 

“Romy, is this a DS?” came Dan’s voice suddenly. He had opened the glove box compartment, to find a teal blueish coloured Nintendo DS stationed there. “With Zelda?” he added, turning on the device to the game. 

“Hey! Don’t judge,” she said, snatching it out of Dan’s hand, and shoving it back into the box. “You’re the one who wears flower crowns,” she shot back weakly, Dan’s smirk letting her know that she had failed miserably. She was redeemed though, when a light blush covered his cheeks at her last comment, making her smile back. 

“Shut up,” he responded, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Romy only laughed, and pulled out of the driveway. 

They sat in silence during the few minutes to her house, as Romy focused on driving and not crashing the car, and Dan submerged himself in his thoughts. _Phil and Romy were friends?_ Dan finally registered what she had said minutes before. 

“You better not tell Phil about all the annoying idiosyncrasies I have and embarrassing stories.” 

“I’m afraid that that’s not possible honey.” Romy pulled out her phone, and Dan realised that they had arrived at their destination and quickly escaped the car. 

He rushed up the stairs, taking two at a time. Running into Romy’s bedroom, he collapsed onto her bed. If you were wondering why Dan made himself at home so quickly, and knew where her room was, it was because they were friends, and on multiple occasions went to her house for help, or, to escape his brother’s wrath. 

Now, it may seem like Romy and Dan were in some sort of relationship, but both of them would assure you that it was a completely platonic one that they had. They were close friends, and probably would have been anyways, even if Cole wasn’t in the equation at all. 

Romy walked up the stairs and her room. “Dan, look in the mirror.” 

Turning slightly, Dan saw that his hair had started to curl again, and freaked out a bit. “Can I use your hair straightener?” he asked, desperation in his voice. 

“Dan, you look fine.”-Dan shook his head violently at that statement-”No. You look amazing and super cute with your hair all curly. Plus, you don’t have enough time to straighten it. Phil definitely wouldn’t mind it. Now go and be on your way, you’re going to be late and I need to deal with your brother.” Romy ushered him out of her room and out the front door. Muttering under her breath, she shook her head and said “Cole really doesn’t deserve me, Dan or another chance, that cheating asshole.“ 

Dan only nodded, not paying attention to anything that Romy had muttered, and walked out of the door, Romy following close behind. Closing the door, she turned to Dan and told him to “lead the way,” though Dan had already started walking in some direction. Romy followed close on his heels, however, Dan was already drowning in his thoughts and didn’t notice her. 

After walking for about fifteen minutes, both of them lost in their thoughts, Dan’s about Phil, and Romy’s about how she could kill Cole, Romy noticed that they weren’t anywhere near the park at all, and poked Dan to notify him. 

“Are you sure that we’re going the right direction Dan? You seem to have led us to your street, which is the opposite direction that we were supposed to go.” 

“Oh shit! What time is it Romy?” 

“It’s”-Romy checked her phone because she didn’t actually know-”6:05. Dan, you’re late, but when are you ever on time?” 

“Oh no. I’m making such a great impression to Phil. He’s probably going to never want to be with me, I’m always late!” 

“Calm down Dan! I’m sure that you’ll be fine.” 

Twenty minutes later, Dan and, Romy (who insisted to tag along), arrived at the park. Looking around, Dan couldn’t spot Phil. Romy, on the hand, spotted Phil right away and pulled Dan to the entrance to the forest where Phil was waiting. Phil was shocked, to say the least, to see that his childhood best friend, if not only friend, was friends with (or related to, Phil didn’t want to assume anything, even though it was highly unlikely) Dan. 

“Hi Dan! Hi Romy! Romy, what are you doing here?” 

“I was just dropping Dan off. Be careful with him though, he’s been through a lot. Well, toodaloo! I need to kill Cole now,” Romy stated as she walked away. 

“Come on Dan, the sun’s about to set and I know a nice place where we can watch the sunset. It’s just a bit into the forest.” Phil said, taking Dan’s hand and leading him into the forest by the edge of the park. _This seems straight out of a movie, I’m either going to get murdered or it’s going to be something extremely cliché,_ Dan thought. 

As they approached the clearing in the woods where Phil planned on watching the sunset, Dan was speechless. “This seems… magical, like it’s straight out of a romantic film. Are you sure that you didn’t somehow pull this out of a film or off of Tumblr?” 

“No, I did not. It would be cool if I could do that though. Now come on, we don’t want to miss the sunset.” He pulled Dan by my arm and sat him down on one of the many logs that were in the clearing. 

As splatters of yellow, orange, and pink spilled across the sky to form one of the most beautiful sunsets Dan had ever seen and experienced, Phil leant down a bit to rest his chin on top of Dan’s head and wrapped an arm around his waist. Dan leaned into his body, seeking warmth as the sun was setting and he forgot his jumper, and in the process messing up his hair. 

_Ugh. I just messed up my hair, but I’m too comfortable to give a fuck right now,_ Dan thought exasperated. Dan sighed against Phil, wrapping his arms around his waist and hugging him closer. Cuddling into Phil, Dan realised that Phil seemingly smelled a bit fruity. _Huh. Strange. Not that I’m complaining,_ thought Dan. 

After half an hour or so of the two boys sitting together and just enjoying the company, Dan and Phil got up and started making their way back to the park, arms still linked around the other. At the entrance, Romy was waiting, with a triumphant look on her face, turning into an overjoyed look when she saw them approach her. Dan and Phil looked at her strangely, not knowing what was going on, but didn’t question her. 

“So, how was your date?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Somewhere behind her, Phil heard two girls laughing maniacally, one of them sounding very much like a dying walrus. 

Dan blushed furiously at the question, even though they didn’t do anything but sit there and enjoy each other’s company. Phil, on the other hand, just smiled and told her, enthusiastically may I add, that it went exceptional. 

“How can Natalie not know what rick rolling, pepe the frog, and grumpy cat were?! How did she not know what memes were?! Does she even internet?!” 

“I KNOW! How dare she try to sit with us when she knows nothing! Idek how she even survives without the internet.” 

“Kendra, Shannon, can you guys stop expressing your feelings on how Natalie didn’t know as much internet as you guys for a second please?” Romy called behind her shoulder. 

Phil laughed, knowing how internet crazy the two girls, or all of them, as Romy also spent quite a bit of time on the internet too, were. He led Dan away from all the girls and sit with him on the swings, swinging slightly (and it must’ve been a sight to see, two overly tall boys swinging). 

“I really loved this,” Dan said, looking down at the ground with crimson cheeks. Thank you so much.“ 

Phil’s smile in return to that statement shone so brightly, Dan swore it lighted up the whole park. They heard Romy calling in the background, saying that she needed to take Dan home, or to her home, it really didn’t matter, so that they should hurry up. Also, that the two internet girls were joining her. 

Dan and Phil got off the swings that they were sat on and just stared at each other, getting lost in their eyes. Slowly, as if they were gravitating towards each other, their lips collided, sending shivers down their spines and setting fireworks off in their stomachs. Smiling, they pulled away, and walked hand in hand back towards the girls, waiting by the car. 

After bidding Phil goodbye, Dan slipped into the passenger seat, next to Romy, not noticing the two internet-obsessed girls in the back. Dan could see that Romy still had that victorious grin placed on her face, so he questioned her about what had happened. 

“Oh, nothing. I _finally_ ended my relationship with Cole, that asshole. Sophia even thought that it was a great idea to go up in my face and tell me that too bad, he was her girlfriend now, and that at least she got to bang Cole. Sophia was never a pretty girl anyways,” she grinned. “And now I have less worries and more time to watch anime. And to observe you and Phil’s relationship.” She winked at Dan. 

“Phan,” one of the girls muttered under her breath. The other laughed, a loud, walrus sounding laugh, and soon the other girl joined in. Dan turned to look at the two girls. The one who started laughing first had brown eyes and black hair, though the underside seemed to be dyed a dark blue. The other, the one who muttered Phan (and Dan had still yet to know what it means), also had brown eyes, though her hair was a brown color, and it reached her waist. 

One of the girls (the one with brown hair) observed that Dan was looking at them, and stopped laughing, elbowing the other girl to do the same. “Hi! I don’t believe that we’ve been properly introduced yet. That one over there is Shannon,” she jabbed her finger into the side of Shannon’s arm, ending up with Shannon letting out a few squeals and squirms,(Dan assumed she must have been rather ticklish), “and I’m Kendra. I’m guessing that you’re Dan. Phil hasn’t stopped talking about you.” 

“Really? I’m nothing special,” Dan said in a small, embarrassed voice. “Also, what does Phan mean?” 

“It’s just a combination of Dan and Phil.” 

On the drive home, or to Romy’s house, Dan wasn’t quite sure, the four of them, or rather the three girls, discussed Natalie and her lack of internet knowledge, what was happening in the world, and just life in general. Dan’s head was still in the clouds, his mind on Phil and how perfect the date was and how much he wanted to see Phil again. 

Suddenly, the driver behind them sped up and tried to get them to switch lanes, shaking Dan out of his daydream. Romy, being the stubborn person she is, refused, making the driver almost crash into the car. After screaming “Fuck you!” at Romy and switching lanes, the driver flipped them off and stuck his middle finger out of his window. Kendra and Shannon laughed at some unknown prospect. After they calmed down enough to talk, they explained that they told their friend about the angry driver, and said friend commented that the driver’s name must’ve been something stereotypical like Steve. Romy only shook her head, a small smile on her face. 

After arriving at Romy’s house, the group of four rushed off to her room, climbing the stairs two steps at a time. Collapsing onto the bed, all Dan wanted to do was sleep and dream about the perfect boy he went on a date with that afternoon, and to forget about the three girls next to him waiting to interrogate him about aforementioned date. 

“How was it?” 

“Did you guys kiss?” 

“Who topped?” 

Dan dreaded the night. 

*** 

The next morning, Romy dropped Dan, Kendra, and Shannon at their respective houses to change and get dressed for school. He settled for a pale blue jumper with his white skinny jeans and the flower crown that Phil/Zoe gave him yesterday to match. Looking in the mirror on his way out, he decided that his outfit looked nice enough to go to school in, not noticing that his hair wasn’t curled. 

The first half of the school went by okay, same as always. He almost fell asleep during his first period, before realising that he was about to nod off and jolted away. Coffee was another thing on the seemingly long list of things that he forgot to do that morning. 

During lunch, Eliza decided that she disliked the clothes that he was wearing. “Wow, wearing pastel now? How gay can you get?” Perhaps that jab hurt more than a paper cut in Dan’s emotions. 

The rest of the day went by quicker than the beginning, and soon enough the last bell was ringing. 

After school, Dan made his way to Zoe’s Coffee and Café, like he does most days. This time, though, just as Dan got comfortable in his booth and was about to pull out his homework for the day, Phil walked up to him, holding a rose in one hand and a caramel macchiato in the other. 

“For you, my kind sir. Your order?” 

Dan blushed as Phil handed him both items. “Thank you, monsieur. I believe that you’ve already taken my order, as you just gave it to me.” 

Phil just simply laughed, giving Dan this carefree feeling that he loved. 

_If this is love, I never want to let go._

**Author's Note:**

> _thank you for reading! you can find me[here](http://pandaanna01.tumblr.com/)_


End file.
